Christians Renew Spirit At Holy Site

April 7, 1985|By John Gholdston, Sentinel Religion Writer

Many Central Florida Christians are showing a renewed interest in the spiritual aspects of Easter, which is partially reflected by an increasing number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land, religious leaders say.

Within the past few weeks hundreds of Central Floridians have traveled with several tour groups to Israel under the guidance of Christian churches and organizations, including a group of more than 70 people from Calvary Assembly in Winter Park and a group with Bless Israel Ministries, headed by WAJL radio station president Al Chubb.

''The Holy Land is a place of remembering,'' said the Rev. Alex Clattenburg, 41, pastor of the huge Calvary Assembly church in Winter Park. ''But it is more than just remembering. It is a place that makes things alive for you. It makes you understand that Jesus' pain and suffering is a very personal thing -- between him and you.''

The weeks surrounding Easter are among the busiest of the year for the Israeli tourist industry, which caters to the Christian pilgrim. According to Israeli tourism officials, the number of American Christians making the trip has been increasing steadily in recent years.

''Something in the world has tried for years to take the miraculous from us,'' said Clattenburg.

''I think people are coming back to the understanding that God did and does work miracles. The Holy Land is a spiritual feast for a world hungry for everlasting life.''

Another prominent Central Florida clergyman, the Rev. Earl Scarbeary, 63, director of the Christian Service Center, has been a frequent visitor to Israel and has observed a deepening of spiritual attitudes on the part of many Christians.

''It always amazes me in Jerusalem -- the Via Dolorosa, the tomb -- that life goes on like it did two thousand years ago,'' Scarbeary said. ''You walk down the Via Dolorosa with the women buying their last-minute items just before Sabbath and you expect to look over your shoulder and see a man carrying a cross on the way to his execution. This isn't just reading about it, this is being in the middle of it and feeling it happen.''

Helen Harbison, 62, an employee of Sun Bank in College Park, is an elder serving as Clerk of the Session of Park Lake Presbyterian Church in Orlando. She said the spiritual renewal in the Christian community is not only for people who can afford a trip to Israel.

''Our church has just gone through a lay renewal week during Holy Week and I've never seen anything like the experiences we had there. We had mountain-top experiences every night. Three-quarters of our congregation recommited themselves to Christ. Tuesday night the message was on the Holy Ghost. Presbyterians don't kneel in church but that night everybody there was on their knees in prayer.''

Scarbeary said he believes Christians are entering a more spiritual age where they are receptive to the presence of the Holy Ghost in their lives. We went through a period when church was a mechanical thing for many of us.'' We knew the right things to do but we weren't experiencing the life that should go with the doing,'' he said.

''You can read about it and listen to it in church, but until you get to know Jesus Christ as a friend the religion is empty.''

Clattenburg said the message of Easter needs to be more than just the resurrection of Jesus. ''It is the most significant event in the history of the world, but until that becomes personal for the individual it doesn't take on life. We have to be able to say to ourselves that because of that day, I can now escape the errors of my life and experience the miraculous in my own life -- the healing not just of our souls but our bodies and our minds as well.''